I
welcome your photos and comments on cooking your Prime Rib Roast.
Contact
Linda Stradley.
Return to the main web
page on cooking the perfect
Classic
Prime Rib (Standing Rib Roast).
2010 Comments from readers:
Thank you for
the excellent information on how to purchase, store, prepare,
cook, carve, and serve a prime rib. Thanks to the thoughtful
details you have provided, we prepared our first one for
Christmas dinner this year (5 ribs) with minimal anxiety. Prior
to finding your information we were worried about ruining a
costly product and disappointing our guests from Texas who "know
their beef". The roast turned out perfectly to our delight and
that of our guests. Never again will we wrestle with a Christmas
turkey, we are a prime rib family now! With gratitude and best
wishes for the New Year. - Stephanie
Murphy, La Mesa, California (12/31/10)
Thanks for
all the great hints. Christmas dinner was a total success and I
think my husband squealed when he saw the perfect color when he
cut into it! Statistics: 7-Rib Roast - 20 lbs - Dry
aged for 8 days (thank goodness, because its original did not
fit in the original pan, but after the dry aging process it did)
- 120 degrees F. - PERFECTO! -
Sara Snuggerud, Sioux Falls, SD (12/29/10)
I can't
even begin to thank you enough for making such an intimidating
recipe so easy. It may be the price or the total mass of food I
was about to "waste" should I have gotten it wrong. Let me tell
you, I stuck to your recipe verbatim and everything came out
wonderful! I have never attempted such a large undertaking in
the kitchen before (I have made Thanksgiving dinner for 25
people, sushi for hours on end, and even a soufflé for my
in-laws). None of those were as imposing as this dinner.
I ordered
two full roasts from the local meat dept. at the grocery store.
One was a little over 16 lbs, one a little under. I had to
re-arrange the racks in the oven to make both pans fit but, not
before I had to trim off one entire rib (about 1 1/2 inch thick
steaks) in order to even fit the roasts in the pans. Don't get
me wrong, I'm not complaining about a couple of big rib eye
steaks in the freezer! I was concerned about having enough after
taking "so much" away. I was also concerned about cooking two at
the same time and what effect that may have on cooking time.
At which
point I basted and periodically switched lower roast and upper
roast to make sure one wasn't getting done faster or
un-evenly. I basted nearly ever 1/2 hour at least and after 2
1/2 hours I started checking the temperature every 15 minutes.
On the second temperature check, the thermometer read 133
degrees, and I was worried I has missed my mark. The second
roast read 140 degrees and I was scared out of my mind at this
point. Not only had the temperature risen faster than expected
(on both) we were ahead of schedule. I pulled everything out to
rest and went to work on the gravy and Au Jus. I really wanted
to serve the "perfect" mix of rare to medium slices of meat and,
thankfully due to the size (I'm guessing) I was able to get just
that. 30+ people served on time and with perfectly done prime
rib.
We only
attempt these big holiday dinners every so often mainly because
we don't want to tempt fate after getting a perfect service like
this one. The next time I assure you will be sooner and way less
intimidating thanks to you! - Nick,
Cardiff by the Sea, CA (12/28/2010)
Thank you so much for those great directions for the beef,
complete with photos. Wonderful! They MADE our Christmas
2010. My husband had been the Christmas Chef and the expert
Standing Rib/Yorkshire man. He died two years ago and the
mantle fell to me. Last year's beef was leathery and
disappointing, so I was pretty apprehensive about 2010.
There are an overwhelming amount of different ideas for
preparing that dinner out there in cyberspace, but your
encouraging directions and photos made me bookmark it and make
it the 'do or die' recipe for this year. SUCCESS! I followed
your directions to the letter and our roast and Yorkshire were
splendid. I had made Yorkshire before, mixing the ingredients
at room temp; but never put them in the refrigerator before
adding to the hot juices. AMAZING! I used a high sided steel
pizza pan rather than my popover pans just because it seemed
easier.
The only part I didn't follow was taking the roast out of the
oven at 120 degrees. I was just afraid the center would be too rare,
so I let it go to 125 degrees. BIG mistake! Next time your 120
degrees will be the take out time!! At 125 degrees it was barely pink in the
middle. It wasn't ruined, in fact it was fine, but those 5 degrees made
it just a little less rare than I would have liked.
So thank you thank you for your good guidance!!
- Carolyn
from Garnet Valley, PA (12/10)
 We have been using your rib roast guide for 3 years now. It has become
our Christmas tradition and the one time a year I get to cook
red meat medium rare! I've also
been eating steak and eggs for breakfast for 3 days now using
the leftover prime rib roast!
– Deven Wilson (12/28/10)
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I hosted
Christmas dinner for the first time with 19 family members. I
prepared a 17-pound roast for the first time and thanks to your
EXTREMELY helpful website it turned out SUPER DELICIOUS!!!
Everyone enjoyed it and I was so pleased.
I also made your
recipe for the horseradish sauce and it was great too! Thanks
again and Happy New Year to you! -
Allison Yates, Tustin, California (12/27/10)
Thank you so much for this website!! It made
our Christmas Holiday absolutely perfect. I had never cooked a
Prime Rib roast until this year and I followed all the
instructions on the site exactly, including dry aging it in the
fridge for 7 days prior to Christmas. I had a 5-rib roast and
it came out so perfect. My husband and our neighbor, who joined
us for dinner, could not stop eating it. They even finished off
the bones!! I’ve bookmarked your site for future use and I’m
sure I’ll be visiting again. Thanks again for making our holiday
one to remember!
- Debbie Yakita, Winter Park, Florida
(12/27/10)
I am still
delirious from the events of Christmas Day thanks in part to you! I started looking at your prime
rib web page about 3 weeks ago. Here is how the Yorkshire Pudding looked right out of the oven and the roasts as
well. Everything was delizioso! Have a very Happy New Year
-
Mary Thomas, Oregon (12/26/10)
Thank you so much for all the helpful info on cooking a standing
rib roast. I bought the largest one I have ever cooked and was a
little nervous about the time. It was 7 ribs and not cheap! I
did not want to overcook it. I did exactly what you said and
with my oven probe and your helpful advice, it came out great!
Thanks and Happy New Year!
- Joanne from Bloomfield, N.J. (12/26/10)
I was given
the honor of cooking Christmas dinner this year for my family of
20 relatives. Since we're big eaters I did an 18 pound 7-rib
roast and a roast goose. Both turned out delicious, but I know
that I couldn't have pulled it off without your awesome website.
It told me exactly what to order from the butcher, what I was
looking for on my thermometer, and your responses to other
people down at the bottom gave me faith that somehow I could
pull this whole thing off. I did have
trouble getting my oven to stay at a constant temperature, and
didn't really get any basting liquid out of the roast itself,
but having a thermometer for your meat is really the key. Thank
you for this great website, and I've definitely already sent it
to my friends and relatives. The pictures were a great help.
You really covered all the bases!! Thank you very much and Merry
Christmas. - Tiffany, Toledo, Ohio
(12/26/10)
Thank you very much for your info on this site - it is all
perfect! I have been in the food business for 37 years and for
your readers who have never cooked a rib roast before, they can
read your posting and have all the information they need to make
a perfect meal. I have cooked rib roast myself for dinner on
Christmas for over 20 years. I always have the best cut of meat
and my calibrated thermo. Kudos and happy holidays.
- Bob Downes, Food Service Professional
(12/22/10)
I am Italian, but I loved prime rib from the first time I ate it in Boston. Then I ate it In New
York, and when I came back home (in Rome) I wanted to try to
make homemade prime rib. I printed off all the images from your site
and I went to my butcher. He was soooo curious about what I
wanted to do. I was a little afraid he wouldn't understand or
couldn't do the cut - instead he did a great job! I invested in a good meat thermometer, and I made
my delicious prime rib, with the congratulation of my husband
(who eats prime rib everytime he flies to the U.S.) and my
guests (it was their first first prime rib). Thank you so much!
-
Paola, Rome, Italy (12/21/10)
 This
is the third year I have hosted a family Prime Rib dinner
and following your recipe every year it has been absolutely
perfect. This weekend was no exception, I cooked a 19+ pound
beast and it was done to perfection and there was barely a
slice left over. Thank you for the detailed instructions and
for making prime rib so simple.
I also wanted to
suggest that you add instructions on cutting and tying
the roast. Last year I got my roast at Costco and they
won’t cut and tie it. I was rather stressed
trying to find instructions on cutting and tying the
roast, I didn’t like the thought of experimenting with a
$100.00+ piece of meat. Eventually I just went for it
and found it was very easy. This year when I did it, I
took some pictures because I was going to post
instructions but I think it would serve a lot more
people on your site. I have attached my pictures in case
this is something you are interested in doing, please
feel free to use them If you like. -
Perrin Kliot, Berkerley, CA
(12/7/10)
Note
from Linda: I have added Perrin's photos showing how to
prepare your prime rib roast for the oven.
I wanted to thank you for this recipe and all the information you
provided. Out of all the recipes on the web, this one actually
offered the tips to a successful and delicious roast. The prime rib was incredible and your advice for 120
degrees was spot on. Everyone loved it and it felt incredible to
actually succeed on a dish so expensive. I appreciate all your
excellent advice. - Clemence Barlowe
(11/25/10)
I have never made a prime
rib before, and decided to try it for a dinner party where I
really wanted to impress. I was nervous about it (and it’s not
an inexpensive cut of meat, so I didn’t want to mess it
up!). Your website was UNBELIEVABLY helpful!! I knew what to ask
for from the butcher and how to cook it and serve it. It was
amazing. I wish you were there for everything!! Thanks for
having this site up. My meat came out perfectly and received
rave reviews (and lots of oohs and aahs) from my guests! -
Lauren, Stamford, CT (11/14/10)
I just want to thank
you and congratulate you on having the absolute best site on
cooking Prime Rib Roast that I have ever seen! It is fabulous!
Every time I cook a Prime Rib, which unfortunately isn't too
often these days, I look up the recipe again and usually spend a
lot of time going over different methods. Your article could not
have been more complete. You have answered every question I have
or have had through my fifty years of cooking Prime Rib. Many,
many, many thanks and my best to you, Linda!
- Sue, Sacramento, CA (10/17/10)
Thank you very much for your detailed discussion about how to
cook Prime Rib. I echo the sentiments of the other bloggers.
That said, I wanted to provide some other feedback. I am one to
use multiple recipes and combine them to suit my liking. Using
the Barbecue! Bible by Steven Raichlen, I put slits every
two or so inches and alternated inserting garlic clove slivers
and fresh rosemary leaves. I then put the roast on a spit,
slathered it with olive oil, and rubbed in a powdered mixture
of equal parts black peppercorns, kosher salt, sweet Hungarian
paprika, and dried rosemary. The roast was a USDA Choice cut of
meat from a private butcher in my area. The meat was the best
I've ever worked with, it was an unbelievable cut of meat at
$200.00.
I used a Weber kettle grill with a rotisserie attachment. I
used indirect charcoal heat with a drip pan. I had soaked
hickory chips that I placed on the coals at three different
points in the cooking process. Before I cooked the meat, I
compared the temperature readings of three thermometers at 120
(a digital, a candy, and an analog probe) using a pyrex
measuring cup with boiling water to verify and adjust the
accuracy of the analog probe. I had the roast with the analog
thermometer and used a BBQ thermometer to monitor the heat of
the interior of the kettle. I kept the heat as close to 325
degrees F. as possible, using the dampers, adding briquettes, and
shielding the kettle from the wind that came up half way through
cooking.
At 5,500 feet altitude, with a 15 pound roast, about 75 degrees
F. outside temperature, keeping the kettle at 300 degrees F.
average, it took two (2) hours to cook to 120 degrees F. As you
described, the roast sat for an hour and rose to 135 degrees F.
before carving. Earlier in the week I purchased T-Bone steaks for my wife and I,
BBQ'd them, ate them, and then boiled the bones to create our Au
Jus because I knew that drippings from the BBQ in this case
would be minimal. This was a hit as well. The drippings that
came from the BBQ, combined with the drippings from the resting
rig made a fabulous gravy to go with the garlic mashed potatoes.
This was a Toastmasters meeting with about 20 people present. I
was told by several, "I've eaten prime rib in many restaurants
and hotels. This was by far the best Prime Rib I've ever
had." The rave reviews were endless. Thank you very much for your insight. Very appropriate and
accurate instructions on your part. I appreciate the time and
effort you put forth to write your instructions. Great job -
Dirk Kittredge, Denver, Colorado (7/10/10)
I just wanted to comment on cooking my
prime rib roast last night. I live at an elevation of 6,300
feet in western Colorado. I followed you instructions to the
crossed t's and dotted i's. I read, reread, and read again. I
read that at higher altitude, cooking should take longer. I
got on the USDA website and they said the same thing. And
everyone agrees, how much longer is an unknown. My roast was
7 ribs, 16 lbs. I did the 15 minutes at 450 degrees F. and
then lower the over temperature to 325 degree F. Just for
grins, I checked the internal meat temp at 3 1/2 hrs. I
don't have a instant digital thermometer but I have four
dial thermometers, and they all read similar, between 130 to
140 degrees F. I was a bit shocked and immediately pulled
the meat out of the oven. Dinner wasn't for another 1 1/2
hrs. The meat ended up more medium, but quite edible. It was
definitely more done than I wanted but everyone loved it.
I've owned and used my stove/oven for 4+ years. I've never
checked the temperature with a stand-alone thermometer but
have always had success in anything that has been cooked in
it. The temperature is maybe higher than the displayed
digital display. This is more of a FYI for those living at
higher altitudes. Next time, with my oven, I'll be checking
my internal temperature at 3 hours instead of 3 1/2 hours.
Thanks again - Rick Lawrence
(1/17/10)
Thank you so much for your web
site with instructions for cooking a prime rib
roast. I decided to go all out this year and
cook one for dinner on Christmas Eve. I was
nervous since I spent so much money and this was
my first time cooking a prime rib. With your
instructions, it came out perfect. Thanks again.
- Matthew Ruggiero,
Middletown, RI (1/03/10)
 I got your cooking times from your web
site and it was wonderful. I did the roast over the New Year
weekend for my husbands birthday, and I was a little
hesitant about the cooking time. When I read that you take
it out at 120 degrees F. for perfect medium rare, I did as
instructed and when cut had a beautiful dark red come from
the meat.
I made an Au Jus of cabernet sauvignon wine and onions.
I also tried the sour cream dressing for the roast, but
preferred the au jus.
Thank you - I would have hated to
ruin this fine cut of beef. - The
Karelskinds (1/03/10).
Cooked this beautiful piece of beef for New
Year's Eve. I have plenty of cooking experience
but never cooked a roast of this magnitude and
quality before. I found your instructions
HUGELY beneficial to the dinner's turnout. IT
WAS PERFECT. -
Megan Mancini (1/03/10)
The roast was a raving success and your
instructions (especially regarding temperature)
were spot on! Thank you very much. I calibrated my thermometer with
an ice bath and with boiling water and found it
was 2 degrees off! Critical for a prime rib.
- Robert Henderson
(1/03/10)
I have been preparing standing rib roasts
for Christmas Dinner and other special occasions and I
must say your recipe and instructions are the best. The
roast was perfect and my 9 guests applauded me when the
bones were taken off and the lovely pieces carved where
served. My husband always uses an electric knife which
makes nice, clean cuts. Thank you so very much for your
informative and accurate article. Happy New Year!
- Susan (1/03/10)
2009 Comments from readers:
I just wanted to
take a second to thank you for the great cooking tips on
your site. We cooked our first prime rib last night and
like so many others were nervous about messing up such a
fine piece of meat. Yours was the first site that I
looked at and the only one that I would even visit as
everything was detailed so well that there was no need
to look elsewhere. The roast turned out perfectly and it
was truly one of the best meals that we have ever
enjoyed with friends. It was funny to go back to your
site this morning after waking up feeling compelled to
write this thank you note. I had never scrolled down far
enough to see the other testimonials on the page, but I
see that I am in some very good company. Thanks again,
and have a Happy New Year!
-
Dave Popowich, Brampton, Canada (12/31/09)
I just wanted
to thank you for posting such flawless instructions. I made
my first prime rib for Christmas dinner and it turned out
perfectly! I was a bit nervous about it especially since I
would have to leave it unattended for an hour while we went
to Christmas mass, (I cooked a ham earlier in the day) my
thought process was cold ham is fine, but cold prime rib
would be awful and re-heating isn’t an option. Anyway, it
turned out perfectly, the front was medium the center was
rare and the end was well done….I couldn’t have asked for a
better prime rib. Thanks for a perfect Christmas dinner.
The only thing was, I was so nervous about making the prime
rib, that I followed your recipe and someone else’s that was
very similar to yours, the only thing that was different
that made things easier in the other recipe, was that I cut
the bones away from the meat and tied it all together BEFORE
it went into the oven. I thought it would make it easier to
deal with and it did. Thanks again
- Teresa Ruiz (12/28/09)
Cooking Prime Rib Roast on
Rotisserie/Barbecue by Brian Blakely:
On
Thanksgiving I barbecued two (2) 16-pound
Turkeys (on two rotisseries ). I used to do
one turkey in the oven and one turkey on the
grill. Everyone ate the grill one first, so
now I do both on the grill. It also keeps
the oven free for other goodies.
This year I barbecued
an 18-pound, 7-bone prime rib roast for
Christmas. Trim any
excess fat and tie up the prime rib
roast. Don't leave any more than 1/2-inch of
your strings dangling,
as they will
burn off.
Rub the entire roast with olive oil
and then season with a mixture of onion powder, garlic
powder, lemon pepper, salt, and pepper; rub
over the roast. The olive oil will help to
hold the spices on the roast. I place the seasoning on the roast by placing the
rotisserie skewer, with the roast on it,
over the sink. I then turn the roast as I
add the seasoning mixture. This saves a lot
of cleanup.
I used a 3-burner barbecue
grill. Turn on the front and rear burners
only to medium heat, around
300 to 325 degrees F.
NOTE: You may have to adjust
the heat depending on the outside
temperature.
Place the
skewered rib roast on the rotisserie, turn
the rotisserie on, and close the lid. The
rib roast will baste itself as it cooks and
the rotisserie turns.
Start check
the temperature of your roast with your
instant-read thermometer at about 3 hours
(sooner for smaller roasts).
Cook until rib roast
reaches an internal temperature of 120 to 125 degrees F. Remove from
barbecue, cover
with aluminum foil, and let sit (rest) approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Barbecue until
the center reached about 120 to 125 degrees
F. in the center.
Hints:
Don't keep opening the
cover of the grill. You will lose heat
every time you open it.
Check to make sure the
rotisserie is turning every so often. I
put diagonal stripes on my handles
so I can see them from inside my house.
I had a breaker blow one time and burned
the roast.
Don't overcook the rib
roast. The end cuts will be well done
enough for those who like their meat
well done.
I have already thanked my little brother,
who is my personal prime rib roast hero, for his help
yesterday. Some of his greatest help was sending me a
link to your What's Cooking America web site. Yesterday I cooked a 7-rib roast (16.2 pounds) for 16 family members. It was my first
prime rib roast. I truly made every mistake in the book! I am almost embarrassed to list them all.
- Sue Brouse
(12/28/09)
The first (and
I thought catastrophic mistake) was the way I thawed the
meat. In my rush to defrost the roast (I thought I had
to freeze it because I had bought it a week before the
dinner, but if I had read your site first, I would have
dry-aged the roast instead) I covered it with cool water
- with NO WRAPPING to protect the roast. When it started
to defrost, I realized my mistake, but not before i had
forever changed the texture and taste of the outer
layer. Still mostly frozen I wrapped it to finish the
thawing. When ready to roast, I seasoned the outside of
the roast to counter the degradation in flavor and
texture of the outer layer.
At that point I was sent to
your web site for some guidance, but I already had my cooking
plan so I used the timeline I had researched instead of
your shorter cooking time. You are the only source I
found (including the Joy of Cooking, my oven manual, and many google searches) that specified my new convection oven
would reduce the cooking time. Even my butcher when
questioned, did not know that. Therefore my roast was
ready at 4 p.m. - with guests due to arrive at 6 p.m!!
I stopped cooking my roast when it was done (I removed
it at 120 degrees).
I followed your instructions for holding
the cooked prime rib roast (and I believe this was the only instruction
for holding a cooked prime rib that I found) and it worked like a charm. I
could tell the outer layer was not perfect, but no one else
noticed. The inside was cooked to perfection. Many had
seconds and care packages went home with guests. Thank
you for helping me save this dinner. Next time, I plan
on following your directions from the start.
We used your recipes for prime rib, Yorkshire pudding,
horseradish sauce, and gravy. We were unable to detect any
faults in any of the recipes. Everything was perfect, and we
thank you very much. Of particular use was your advice
concerning the use of a thermometer, and the idea of taking
out the meat when it reads 120 degrees F, expecting that it
would later continue to rise. We were surprised by this.
After removing the meat, we sat in the kitchen and watched
the thermometer continue to rise to the "official" rare
level. And when we cut the meat, yes, it was perfectly rare.
We used a 7-rib piece of meat, which cost around $280
dollars; it was priced at $18.99/pound. So it was
particularly important to get everything right because of
the high cost. - Roche Family, New
York City (12/26/09)
We bought an 18-pound prime bone in
(7 rib bones) rib eye roast for the
first time, the largest hunk of beef
we've ever cooked. When I came
across your recipe, we studied it
thoroughly and implemented your
instructions. It turned out to be
almost perfect!!!!! Our guests were
very impressed, and so were we!
However, one detail
of your instructions was far from
accurate. The time required to
allow the 18 pounds of meat to reach
room temperature was way off. I
removed the roast from the
refrigerator at 9:30 AM on Christmas
day, as it was dry aging for 2 days
prior in the fridge and it was not
frozen before hand. By 1:30 PM, the
internal temperature had risen only
1 degree F. from 34 to 35 degrees.
It was evident that we would not
reach room temperature, so we cooked
it nonetheless. We should have
taken it out of the fridge the night
before and allowed to sit at room
temperature at least overnight. It
seems that the required time to
reach room temperature, internally,
might be 1 hour per pound-in our
case, 18 hours! Next time, we'll
try 1 hour per pound, and let you
know the results. Here are
before and after photos for your
collection of successes! Thank you
very much for helping us make this
Christmas Dinner 2009 very
memorable! Thanks.
- Barkers in
West Bloomfield, MI (26 December
2009)
I just Googled Prime Rib to double check my
timing for high heat and found your site. It turned out
great! One of the best roasts I've had. My refrigerator
does dry aging pretty well and it does intensify the
flavor. I used the leftovers, bones, previously made
stock, etc. for a killer French onion soup that's our
tradition for New Year's Eve. I have an organic garden
and use my own onions for the soup. I now know that next
year I'll take it out when it says 120 degrees F, not
125 degrees as I'd done this year. Still good, but a tad
less done would be even better. Wanted to thank you for
your lovely gentle philosophy in response to Dianne's
crisis. At almost age 60, I've discovered that it's good
to relax and laugh at the "crises" life hands us. A
gentle laugh solves so many things.
- Barb in Denver (12/26/09)
Thanks for the advice from your web site
on cooking a rib roast.
I am a good follower and I
really liked your detailed instructions.
My roast came out perfect. Thanks it
really helped with our Christmas.
- Brian Stevens (12/26/09)
I just have to tell you - we've
been doing standing rib roast for years - but it
never really WOW'd me. This year I found your
web site, and my husband and myself followed it exactly. I had a 15-pound standing rib roast and it
was AWESOME!!....Everyone (all 25 guests) went on and
on about how beautiful and how good it was. We
made it medium-rare and sometimes its hard to
get pink enough for everyone, but again it was
AWESOME! For the few that wanted medium to
medium-well, it was a snap by cutting the ends
for them. They were very happy too. Thanks so
much for your site. My husband (who
is very hard to impress) told me to bookmark it,
because it was the best he had ever had -
according to him, better then any restaurant!!
Thanks Again -
Traci Richards, Pembroke Pines, Florida (12/26/09)
We bought a 19-pound prime
cut, prime rib roast for the first time. My husband
was soooooo nervous that we had spent a great deal
of money and we had never done a prime rib before. When we came across your recipe, after reading the
testimonials, we decided that this must be the right
one - and it was. It was perfect!!!!!
Our grown children were very impressed, and so were
we! Here are a couple of photos for your collection
of successes! Thank you very much for helping us
make this Christmas Dinner 2009 very memorable!
Thanks. - Janet Franklin in
Abilene, Texas (12/26/09)
 The recipe was great - 450
degrees for 20 minutes, 275 degrees for 3 hours - dry-aged at home
in the refrigerator for 6 days.
4-rib roast, feeding four twice - plus
snacking on the rib bone/chine.
Yum!!! X-mas 2009 (see photo below).
- Steven Schustak (12/25/09)
My name is David
Miguel and I am a 1978 graduate of The Culinary
Institute of America. My best friend wanted to know
what my Christmas roast was going to be this year
and we decided a bone in rib roast. Another good
friend owns a meat market and provided us each with
a USDA Prime Rib Roast. He was a little nervous
about this expensive undertaking, so instead of
reinventing the wheel,( I am a terribly slow typer)
I googled some pointers. I came upon your web site
and was very impressed in both the level of accuracy
and the amount of detail on your page - what a
treat! As Gordon Ramsey would say, “spot on”!!!!
Thanks and Happy Holidays -
David Miguel (12/25/09)
I used your
prime rib recipe ..... best I've ever made..... and
I've made plenty in my 71 years.
- Vern Miller (12/25/09)
I found
your website and the instructions are excellent. Our 2
rib roast was moist and medium-rare. I cooked it at
about 8,000 feet and it took more like 30 minutes a
pound, but with the instant-read thermometer it was easy
to keep an eye on progress.
-
Chris Williams
Using Electric Roasting Pan:
I really enjoyed reading your website
about buying, preparing and cooking a
rib roast. I plan on cooking one on
Christmas Day. Here is my question for
you. I have a GE Roaster. It's a like a
mini oven that sits on your table. I
have cooked Thanksgiving turkey in it
several times and just plain old baked
chicken. They both come out delicious!
And the turkey usually cooks in a
shorter amount of time than is suggested
for regular oven cooking. I want to make
my roast in this oven. Do you see any
problems with that? It will free up my
oven for all the other goodies I plan to
make. Thanks so much in advance for your
reply. Again, I loved your website and
will have to go read everything else on
it! - Robin
Sherlock (12/23/09)
I have to be honest and tell you that I
have never used an electric roaster for
cooking anything. If the roaster cooks
in a shorter time period, you will have
to be careful that it doesn’t dry out
your prime rib roast. Please, please use
a cooking thermometer to check your
roast during the cooking process so as
to know how fast the temperature is
rising. Remove the prime rib from the
roaster at 120 degrees F. Let me know
how your prime rib turns out using the
electric roaster. I’m sure other people
will be interested in this technique. I
would like to post your findings on my
web page. - Linda Stradley
Feedback
from Robin (12/26/09):
I am so sorry I forgot to
take pictures! My kitchen was an
absolute zoo at the time I took the
roast out. But I wanted to let you know
that we cooked the 18 lb roast in my GE
oven roaster and it came out
spectacular! It fit just perfect! And
the roaster has a metal rack with
handles that we placed the roast on top
of to make it easier to lift that bad
boy out when done. I actually bought two
digital-read thermometers because when I
tested the first thermometer and it
didn't reach 212 degrees in boiling
water, so I went out and bought the
other one. That one worked great! I
started checking the roast early on
because I was nervous cooking it in the
roaster. We took it out at exactly 121
degrees. It was beautiful. I wanted to
carve it the way you instruct on the
website but I didn't have a great knife
and the roast was so big. So my
father-in-law just started slicing it
up! It was great though! I also made
your sour cream horseradish and everyone
loved it. And I made your au jus. It was
delicious! Oh yeah - just before I was
going to start preparing the roast with
my seasonings, I realized it wasn't tied
up, so I marched it into my grocery
store on a cookie sheet wrapped in a
huge bag and made them tie it up! Thank
you so much for your website!
Cooking Two (2) Prime Rib Roasts:
I'm hoping I will hear back from you before I have to cook on Christmas. I had just purchased a 3 rib, approx 7 lb prime rib roast, to serve 4 adults when I was later notified of 2 additional adults now coming to dinner. I was going to purchase a larger 5 rib roast and keep the other one frozen. But I went with the butcher's suggestion, buying another 7.4 lb (3 ribs) and plan to cook them both at the same time. He said it wouldn't affect the cooking time or end result if I position them bone to bone. What is your suggestion? Half of us like our meat med-rare and the other half like it medium. We do like our slices about 3/4" thick. Please help. - Linda
Guillerme (12/21/09)
Cook both prime rib roasts at the same time, but each individual roast must be checked for cooking temperatures. Treat as two (2) roasts not one when cooking them. - Linda Stradley
Feedback
from Linda Guillerme (12/26/09):
Just wanted to tell you
that I took your advise - ALL of it and
my 2 rib roasts came out PERFECT
(despite my oven varying its temperature
from 300 to 350 degrees. Thank goodness
I had a thermometer in it so I could
make the adjustments). Because one roast
was 7 lbs and the other 7.5 lbs, I
bought a second digital thermometer to
monitor them. Before I knew it, the
larger roast was cooked a bit more than
the 120 degrees you recommend. The
smaller roast was spot on. SO I tented
the smaller one and not the other one.
When we were ready to carve they were
both beautiful. I used a tube of steak
rub on the outside which added wonderful
flavor to the crisp outer layer. Thank
you so much for the rave reviews I got.
I am really upset right now. As a last ditch
attempt to save a roast I am hoping you may be
able to respond and help me. I had the wrong
date, tonight, for preparing a dinner for a
group of people. I had a full prime rib roast
that has been in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes
when I found out that the gathering is tomorrow
night!!!! Is there any way this roast can be
saved?? I have removed it from the oven and the
temperature is around 90 degrees F. on the
thermometer. Can I put it in the fridge and
finish cooking it tomorrow night? I am in shock
and on the verge of tears. As a last ditch
attempt to save a roast I am hoping you may be
able to respond and help me. –
Dianne Fritche (12/19/09)
I would be in shock also, especially knowing how
much a prime rib roast cost!
My
suggestion (and only a suggestion), as I have
never had this happen. I would butter the
outside of the prime rib (so that the roast will
not dry out). Then put the prime rib back in the
oven tonight and cook it at a low temperature
(300 to 325 deg. F.), watching the temperature
carefully throughout the baking time with your
thermometer. If the temperature rises too fast
in the prime rib, lower your oven temperature
more. Do not let the temperature in the roast
get over 120 degrees. If the roast reaches the
120 degrees temperature too soon, just turn off
you oven and let the roast sit until you need to
cut it.
I really feel bad for you. Please smile and just
laugh at yourself! Tell your guests your story
and let them also laugh. It will be ok!
Make sure all your other side dishes are great
and everyone will love you. - Linda Stradley
Thank you for your reply. I am still in shock. I
have to admit I chose to get a new prime rib
roast, but I plan on cooking the other one and
keeping it for myself. I just will not know if I
serve the "old" roast how it will be because I
will not know if the guests will be honest about
it or just kind. I do not think at any rate it
could possibly be as good as correctly done. I
will let you know how the one I keep and finish
cooking turns out. I am having a difficult time
getting my head around all of this and feeling
like maybe I can't pull off the meal all over
again tonight.
Feedback from Dianne (12/20/09):
I must say, what a difference a day makes.
The dinner was executed flawlessly. I do not
think that would have happened if I had
spent the whole time worrying wondering
about how the roast was going to turn out,
but everything was great. Including "my"
first prime rib roast. It did turn out
nicely after all. Linda, I actually (because
it was "just" for me) chose to put it back
in the oven at 325 degrees F. I set the
thermometer in place and watched it as you
suggested. It took the full two hours it
would have the previous day (total of 3) and
still turned out delicious. Not dry or
lacking in flavor or over done at all. In
fact my family joked that they wonder if the
other roast turned out as nicely!
So now we know that this strange way
of cooking a prime rib roast can work! Not
that I'd recommend the "technique" It is way
too expensive.
I do want to add something for your
knowledge. Your site recommended a digital
instant thermometer. I had a probe type that
you leave in the meat and the digital read
display sits on the counter. I decided to
buy an instant-read because of your site and
it turns out that my probe thermometer seems
to have been way off and actually was
reading high. When I put the roast in the
oven again the next day, I used both
thermometers. I used the new one to double
check and learned that mine was showing way
higher than the new insta-read. This means
that when I took the roast out of the oven
the first day, and in my initial email told
you it was 90 degrees on my thermometer,
that it was probably much cooler internally.
I am not sure what temperature a roast would
normally be after about an hour of cooking
but the end result possibly turned out so
well because it was not in fact 90 degrees.
Thank goodness I followed your advise and
got another thermometer!
Honestly Linda because you responded, which
was such a sweet surprise, you helped pick
up my spirits and got me into a better state
of mind again. Those are the little
surprises in life that help us pick up the
pieces and keep on keeping on.
My Mother and I cooked a standing rib roast for
Thanksgiving 2009 using your web page as guidance. It
came out fantastic. We definitely agree with using a
good thermometer. We live at altitude (Albuquerque, New
Mexico) and it eliminated the guess work on the cooking
time. 120 degrees is 120 degrees at the center of the
roast regardless of altitude. It took about ten to
twenty minutes more in the oven. Will not waste my time
on a Turkey again. Thanks -
Matt Kappler (12/01/09)
I can cook - barbecue,
brisket, beans, you know, cheap stuff. I've never cooked a whole rib roast
before, so when my pastor asked me to cook 110 pounds of prime rib, I turned to
your site. I cooked seven (7) boneless prime rib roasts in a convection oven for
2.5 hours using the directions you've provided and they turned out great! This
was a Hospice fund raiser, so portions were small, 180 portions in all. I was
ready to serve on time at 5:30 p.m., but due to other problems serving did not
start till 6:30. Most of the meat rose in temperature to medium but that was OK
for the deep south and older folks. We mostly don't like rare. A little pink is
OK. Anyway, one does want to try to do it right with $600.00 worth of meat. So,
thanks for the help. The meat turned out great due to your detailed
instructions. A sincere thank you
- Les Powell
(10/13/09)
Thanks to Bing you came up
first in my search for Prime Rib roasting recipes. Both the roast and the
Yorkshire pudding were amazing! I minced two big cloves of garlic and freshly
ground pepper on the roast following the cooking directions and it was indeed
perfect. Digital Thermometer worked like a champ.
On the Yorkshire pudding, I didn't have milk so used half and half. I was also short
on fat, so I mixed about 3 tablespoons of melted butter with vegetable oil to
make up the difference. I micro-waved it for 30 seconds on high to get the
mixture hot to add to the prepared rectangular glass pan. To get the batter
cold, I prepared it as directed as soon as the roast was in the oven and put it
in the freezer for 15 minutes, then the refrigerator for the roasting time of
the meat (5.21 lb - 2 rib roast took 1 hour 50 minutes to reach 120 degrees F.).
5 minutes for the oil, which was crackling when I added the batter and rose like
a brown cumulus cloud in 13 minutes. The center was a set custard surrounded by
brown pillows - exactly like my mom and dad made us for years. Thanks so much
for the magnificent instructions. You are indeed in my bookmarks forever.
- Phil Hale, Orlando Florida (9/17/09)
Just wanted to say THANKS so much for the
wonderful information provided for cooking a Prime Rib Roast. For the first
time ever, I fixed one last night going by your instructions and a restaurant
couldn't have turned one out any better. I would never have had the nerve to
attempt cooking such a expensive, large cut of meat without the step by step
instructions. You have a great informative web site. I can't wait to share your
website with all my cooking buddies. Keep up the good work.
- Terri (3/25/09)
I came
upon your site a couple of years ago while looking for a standing rib roast
guide. What a treasure! The rib roast is a
NO FAIL recipe every time.
Fantastic
resource! I love the menus and features. Thanks
-
Bonita (1/14/09)
2007 and 2008 Comments from readers:
Just wanted to let you know that I cooked a
very expensive prime rib roast for the first time for Christmas
dinner. We had a 10 lb. semi-boneless roast for 13 people. I was very worried
that it would not come out to everyone's liking since we had people who like the
meat rare, some medium rare, and some even medium. I followed your directions
exactly, even though I really wondered about the wisdom of taking the meat out
when the internal temp reached 120 degrees. Then I figured I could always roast
it a bit more if necessary but I could not make it less done if it was
overcooked. After I removed it from the oven, I covered the meat loosely with
foil and let it sit on my counter for a half-hour. The temperature did indeed rise to
about 125 degrees. The meat was absolutely perfect! The outer part of the roast
was between medium and medium rare, then there was a section of medium rare and
the center was rare. I cut the meat into sections and had three separate
platters, based on doneness. Everyone raved about the meat and there was hardly
any leftovers at all. I let the meat come to room temperature before roasting as
you suggested and invested in a good digital meat thermometer, which ended up
giving me wildly fluctuating readings. In the end, I used my old thermometer
that I have had for at least 10 years and it worked well! I made the horseradish
sauce and a Madeira-based au jus-type sauce and both were well-received. Thank
you so much for your excellent advice. I am so glad I was able to protect my
$125 investment!
-
Denise (12/27/08)
I just
wanted you to know that I just made a 15.5 lb prime rib roast (7 ribs) for the
first time. I followed the instructions on your website and it was PERFECT!!
I have never made this before and the instructions, from letting it come to room
temperature before cooking, all the way to the carving directions were so
helpful. I took it from the oven at 125 degrees and it rose to 140 degrees
just while resting - so thank you for the advice about NOT OVERCOOKING. Thank
you thank you it was delicious! - Jenny (12/25/08)
I just googled "how to cook a prime rib," as
this year is my first one and came across your site. I am so excited because
I have your cookbook and I absolutely love it. I use it once a week at
least. I am just glad to have your website as a resource now. Thanks so
much! - (12/24/08)
Great instructions for cooking standing rib roast! Turned out
fantastic! I was a little concerned having never done this and putting $65 worth
of beef on the line. Being a novice at this and having a few choices on my oven
I was a little unclear on whether to bake and/or roast (I think I chose
correctly and went with bake). In any event thank you and great web site. Best
wishes for the New Year!
- Tom (12/26/07)
The instructions
were perfect! Christmas was the first time I ever cooked Prime
Rib. It was perfect. Thank you so much for all the tips. 120
degrees F. is perfect and the temperature really did rise after
it sat on top of the stove. I will use these instructions
again.
- Theresa (12/26/07)
Thank you for the helpful tips
in preparing the perfect prime rib. The roast would have been ruined
should I had not seen your article regarding what constitutes
rare/medium-rare. Happy Holidays! -
Marishka (12/23/07)
Thank you for defining
rare as rare, not 140 degrees F. rare, which it well done.
Even my Taylor meat probe uses the government standards for
temperatures.
Could anything be more useless or DIS-helpful than defining
rare in terms of well done? You're the first person to point
out the deception on the government standards, all in the
name of safety. What bureaucrat was trying to save ourselves
from ourselves on that one?
- Earl (12/02/07)
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